Saudi Arabia
While the rest of the cryptocurrencies battle within bearish movements over the last 24 hours, Ripple XRP has been greenish. The coin has risen 15% to pass $0.3 per XRP amid news of Saudi Arabian bank adoption and the impending launch of a new payments platform.
So far, 112 banks have reportedly shown an interest in using Ripple’s protocol, yet to be launched as a product, and this may just be the turning point for the project.
Sagar Sarabhai, head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Ripple Labs, recently revealed that in the “next month or so” the company will release its XRapid product.
The product will help banks speed up transactions by using the XRP cryptocurrency.
Slipping this product down the throat of the world’s largest bank will be the break-even point for Ripple, and this has been achieved to some extent.
Even though Ripple did not give much was away about the bank that will try the product, it is logical to believe that the National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia’s premier bank, may be early the adopters.
Recently, reports emerged that the National Commercial Bank has joined forces with Ripple’s technology and indirectly, the blockchain world.
Following the new deal, it is expected that Ripple’s technology which centers on secure and instant payments will play a significant role in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
According to World Bank estimates, $308 million was dispatched to the KSA, and $37 billion in remittances were exported from the country in 2016.
Using Ripple’s technology to process such large volumes of funds would be a big win for Ripple and its cryptocurrency. Heading back to the crypto markets, the developments regarding the Ripple project has resulted in a corresponding movement, despite the bearish market. At press time, the coin was pegged over $0.3, reaching over a market cap of $12 billion. However, this is still very far from its all-time high at around $3 that was reached on last January.
Ripple’s crypto project may largely be criticized by industry participants for being centralized. However, to a large extent, the project has lived up to its promises and now looks ready to take its next big step.